Southwestern Beef and Potato Stew

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine years ago and it's become a family favorite! 

Cold weather comfort food!
Yep...that's what this stew is.

I like to serve it over a couple of mini sweet cornbread muffins!
Tonight...I served it with grilled cheese sandwiches...
made with homemade bread of course!

 Southwestern Beef and Potato Stew

6 servings (but easily doubled)

2 pounds lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped 

1 cup water, divided 

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained 

1 16 oz package frozen corn 

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 

1 cup salsa 

1 teaspoon salt, optional 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

In a Dutch oven or large kettle, cook beef and 

onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Add 3/4 cup water, vegetables, salsa, salt if desired, 

cumin, garlic powder and pepper. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. 

Cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours.

 Combine flour and remaining water until smooth; gradually stir into stew.

Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Unstuffed Pepper Soup

Oh, how I love soup.

I could eat a bowl at every meal during the colder months.

There's just something about a big, hot bowl of soup 

at the end of a long, cold and dreary day.

Eat it alone, with some crackers or bread, 

with a sandwich or with a full meal.

The more ingredients you put in it, 

of course, the more filling it is!

This hearty soup is full of beef, peppers, 

onions, tomatoes and mushrooms!

Do you like Stuffed Bell Peppers?
Then you're going to love this!

Unstuffed Pepper Soup

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

3 large green peppers, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cans (14 1/2 oz each) beef broth

2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) tomato soup, undiluted

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes, undrained

1 can (4 oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

In a Dutch over or large saucepan, cook the beef, green peppers, 

and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Stir in the broth, soup, tomatoes and mushrooms.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for a least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add rice and heat through.

Makes 10 servings

Delicious!

Chicken Fried Cube Steak w/ milk gravy

My momma would cook the best cube steaks.
I used her recipe and cooked them exactly like she did. 

But...she said mine were always better.
No, I don't think so.
There is nothin' like momma's southern home-cookin'!

Chicken Fried Cube Steaks

w/ milk gravy

4 cube steaks
1/2 cup milk
2 beaten eggs 

3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon Season-All salt
1 tsp Weber Chicago Steak Seasoning
(my added touch...sorry momma)
OR
1/4 to 1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup cooking oil

In a bowl, mix flour, season salt, and steak seasoning or pepper

In another bowl mix milk with eggs.

Dip one piece of steak in flour mixture.

Dip steak in milk and egg mixture, 

 then again in flour mixture, making sure to coat both sides.

Yep...I'm a double dipper!

Heat oil in skillet on medium-high heat

Add steak to skillet and cook till brown on bottom side.
Turn steak over.

Continue cooking other side until brown

and steak is cooked through.

Place steak on a plate covered with a paper towel.

Carefully remove paper towel before serving.

MILK GRAVY
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
(or use the drippings from the steak)
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon course ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Over medium heat, melt butter in skillet saucepan.
(I use a cast iron skillet or the skillet I cooked the steaks in)
Add flour and stir until combined.

Add milk and stir until bubbly.

Add salt and pepper.

Gravy will thicken as it cooks.
Turn fire down to low when it's thickened to your liking.

Serve over steak.

Also delicious served over mash potatoes!

Slow Cooker Beef Roast w/ potatoes and green beans

I've got to hand it to whoever invented the slow cooker. 

Who ever it was, knew that busy cooks needed

something to help them get supper on the table 

without much fuss after a busy day.

I don't know where I'd be without mine!

Slow Cooker Beef Roast 

w/Potatoes and Green Beans

3 lb beef roast

4 large red potatoes, cut in to quarters

(I leave the skins on)
2 - 3 cups green beans

(I used fresh, but frozen is fine too)

1 TBSP + 2 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

1 TBSP Hamburger Seasoning

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce, divided
1 14.5 oz can beef broth

Mix steak and hamburger seasonings in a small bowl

Add Potatoes and green beans to slow cooker.

Pour 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce over veggies.

Sprinkle veggies with a few tsp of seasonings. 

Sprinkle half of the remaining steak and hamburger seasonings over one side of roast.

Place roast on top of veggies, seasoned side down.

With a sharp knife, poke roast several times.

Mix 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce and beef broth together. 

Pour over top of roast, making sure you pour directly in to knife holes.

Sprinkle remainder of seasonings over roast.

Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hrs,

depending on your tastes for medium well - well done.

Smoky Mountain Skillet

I am loving this Slow Cookers, Casseroles and Skillets cookbook 

from Gooseberry Patch!

Sometimes I open up a good cookbook and then want to use it every night...or until I've cooked up everything I wanted to try. I suppose this is one of those cookbooks!

Tonight it was Smoky Mountain Skillet.....Yum! 

A hearty Roast, Potatoes and Gravy meal!

Don't let this recipe scare you away because it uses canned Roast and Gravy.
You'll be so surprised at how well it turns out.

This recipe would be great served up for breakfast...
with eggs and biscuits!

Simple, hearty, delicious....

Smoky Mountain Skillet

1/4 cup oil

5 to 6 potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, and cubed

1 onion, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

12 oz can roast beef and gravy

1/2 cup water

Heat oil in skillet; add potatoes, onion, salt and pepper.

Cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender and golden.
(I scooped the potatoes out at this point and drained them on paper towels to get the excess oil out of them, then poured the remaining oil out of the pan.)

Add roast beef in gravy and mix in well; stir in water.

Cover skillet and cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

Serves 5 - 6

Taco Pie

Slow Cooker, Casseroles and Skillets, 

from Gooseberry Patch,

 has some of the best recipes. 

I have so many pages marked in this book. They are all great recipes for the cooler months that will soon be here...a time that I'm looking forward to!

This recipe is another quick and easy one. When days are busy and I need a good meal on the table that is filling and delicious, quick and easy recipes are the ones I run to the most!

Angie's Taco Pie

serves 8

8 1/2 oz pkg cornbread muffin mix

1/2 lb ground beef

(I used 1 lb)

1 1/4 ox pkg taco seasoning

8 oz jar salsa

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

(I used 1 cup)

Prepare cornbread mix according to package directions. 

Pour batter into a greased 10" pie plate and set aside.

Brown beef in a skillet; drain and stir in taco seasoning. 

Spoon beef mixture over batter; top with salsa and cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 20 -  25 minutes,

until cheese melts and cornbread sets.

 Oh so delicious!!

Pepperotini

Here I go again...another quick and easy meal. 

Sometimes they are the best kind. 

This recipe is another one of those 

"ok, this is what I've got to work with. What can I make?"  

kind of recipes. 

I'm sure most of you can relate.

And I'm sure most of you have already made something like this. 

Since my family loves this dish so much, 

I thought I'd share it with you too!

Pepperoni - Rotini

Pepperotini!

1 lb ground beef

1/2 tsp hamburger seasoning

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

7 oz pkg pepperoni slices

24 oz jar (or 2 1/2 cups) of your favorite spaghetti sauce

(this time I used Ragu Garden Combination)

 2 tsp Italian Seasoning

8 oz Rotini pasta

( I could only find a 16oz, so I used half of that) 

 8 oz pkg shredded Cheddar Jack cheese 

Cook pasta according to directions on package, drain.

Over medium heat, brown ground beef, peppers and onions. Cook until onions are clear and peppers are tender. Drain.

Add hamburger seasoning. Stir.

Add pepperoni, sauce and Italian seasoning. Stir.

Cook until sauce and pepperoni's are heated, stirring occasionally.

 Add pasta and mix together until all is combined. 

Pour in to a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Cover with cheese.

Bake on 350* until cheese is melted.

Serve!

YUM!

 

Fried Cube Steak Strips

Today is my daughter in law's birthday. I always ask my kids and their spouses what they want for their birthday dinner and she chose Fried Cube Steak Strips. I haven't made them in months because I try not to fry anything anymore, due to me wanting to cut down on fatty foods. But, I was sure happy I had a 'reason' to make these tonight!

Fried Cube Steak Strips

1 cup of milk

2 eggs

Whisk together in a medium size bowl/pie plate

In another bowl/pie plate, mix together

1 cup of all-purpose flour

2 tsp hamburger seasoning

1 tsp barbeque seasoning

1 tsp ground pepper

Cut 4 cube steaks in to strips

 Dip each steak strip in to milk/egg mixture.

 then in the flour mixture..being sure to cover completely.

Fry steak strips in 1/2 inch of oil, heated on medium heat.

Turn steak when it's golden brown,

about 5 - 7 minutes

Remove from pan when both sides are golden brown. 

Or...if you're like my youngest son, allow steak to fry a bit longer for a crispier batter.

Serve plain, dip in BBQ or steak sauce

or cover with gravy!

Farmhouse BBQ Muffins

I love swapping recipes with my friends. 

This is one of our favorites from my good friend, Leslie. 

We were both stationed in Okinawa, Japan and spent a lot of time together trying each others recipes.

Sometimes I altar them a bit to fit my family's tastes.

(which I do with a lot of my recipes!)

We haven't seen each other in too many years, but I can't help but think about her when I prepare one of the recipes that she shared with me. 

 One thing we both enjoyed were simple but delicious meals for our family. We were both homeschooling our children and after a long day of school and/or field trips we needed something hearty, but tasty, to put on the table.

Farmhouse Bar-B-Que Muffins were just the ticket!

Farmhouse BBQ Muffins

16 oz can Jumbo Buttermilk Biscuits

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375*

Brown ground beef and onion.

Drain.

I also rinse mine. It helps to cut down on some of the fat.

You can leave the meat chunkier like this, but we like it in smaller pieces.

Years ago, I bought this contraption from an infomercial. 

I received two of them in the mail and for about 13 yrs now, I've been using the same one. 

I place the ground beef in this chopper and give it a few spins to cut the meat in to smaller pieces.

 There...see the difference?

 Add your BBQ sauce and stir until combined.

Pat each biscuit until approx. 4 - 5 inches round.

Place each biscuit in an ungreased muffin tin.

There are two in another tin.

Add BBQ beef and sprinkle cheese over the top of each.

Place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes 

or until biscuits are done and cheese is melted. 

  

Add a veggie and/or french fries

And Wa-La....supper is ready!!

YUM!!